New Zealand Bus and Coach

You can get to most places on New Zealand's long-distance buses (also known as coaches) and smaller shuttle buses, which essentially offer the same service but are more likely to drop you off and pick you up from your accommodation. 

The variety of coach operators serving the main tourism routes, are reliable, comfortable, and reasonably priced. The larger buses are usually air-conditioned, stopping every couple of hours, at wayside tearooms and points of interest along the way. Most of your fellow passengers are likely to be visitors to New Zealand so drivers usually give a commentary, the quality of which varies enormously. Some, but not all, have toilets on board.

If you’re the type of traveller who prefers to enjoy a packaged tour, there are a number of operators that run scheduled trips to the main tourist spots.  With accommodation and meals usually included in the price, it’s just left to you decide if you want to tour the North or South Island or both.

The ‘Hop on, Hop off’ networks allow you to buy an unlimited travel pass and give you effective and flexible travel around New Zealand’s main destinations. You typically purchase a ticket for a fixed route (usually valid for twelve months), and then take it at your own pace. You can either stick with the one bus for the entire journey, with nights spent at various towns along the route, or stop off longer in places and hop on a later bus.  The buses in Auckland circulate around the major attractions, giving you unlimited travel for a set price.